You are here:

Kindred

Name: Kindred
Director: Joe Marcantonio
Released: 2020
Duration: 101 min

Representation Score

9.1/10

Excellent

2020

Not Rated

Director

Joe Marcantonio

Runtime

101 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

Kindred is a sophisticated exploration of historical trauma that uses a time-travel framework to examine the connections between contemporary identity and the antebellum South. The film's greatest strength lies in its refusal to rely on the white savior cliché, instead focusing on the ability to act and lived experiences of Black characters. By portraying the protagonist's survival as a strategic response to a dominant male hierarchy, the film provides a deep critique of systemic oppression. It effectively uses the horror genre to expose the violence necessary to maintain historical social structures. While the film lacks explicit LGBTQ+ or disability-focused narratives, it offers a nuanced look at these themes through its portrayal of systemic violence.

Watch this, not that →

Category Breakdown

Does Kindred have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film adheres to a traditional framework that assumes everyone is straight or cisgender. It doesn't include explicit representations of LGBTQ+ individuals or non-binary gender expressions.

How does Kindred portray gender?

Good

The story challenges traditional gender roles by showing how the protagonist uses psychological skills to navigate a patriarchal society. Femininity is portrayed as a multifaceted tool for survival.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Kindred?

Excellent

The film highlights the lived experiences of Black characters and counters the white savior cliché. It emphasizes the importance of giving characters of color real control over their stories within a system that oppresses them.

How does Kindred represent religion and culture?

Excellent

The story critiques the antebellum South's social and economic systems, portraying them as inherently corrupt and violent. It exposes the roots of these structures as fundamentally flawed.

Does Kindred include disability representation?

Fair

The film explores the psychological trauma resulting from systemic violence. However, it doesn't provide specific examples of characters with physical or neurodivergent disabilities taking control of their lives.

Present on Screen

Highlights the lived experiences and ability to act of Black characters in a historical context.
Successfully counters the white savior cliché by emphasizing the ability to act of characters of color.
Provides a sophisticated critique of patriarchal and gendered power structures.
Critically examines the systemic violence inherent in the antebellum South.

Limited or Absent

Doesn't include explicit representations of LGBTQ+ individuals or non-binary gender expressions.
Lacks specific examples of characters with physical or neurodivergent disabilities taking control of their lives.

Official Synopsis

When her boyfriend Ben suddenly dies in an accident, mother-to-be Charlotte collapses upon receiving the news. She wakes up in Ben’s family home, a crumbling old manor house in the middle of nowhere with Ben’s overbearing mother and his controlling stepbrother who are determined to care for her. Grief-stricken and increasingly haunted by visions possibly brought on by the pregnancy, Charlotte begins to doubt the family's intentions and her suspicions grow that they may be trying to control her and her unborn baby.

How are these scores produced? →